


Cuddling

by Rangergirl3



Series: GenTron Week 2019 [5]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gen, Hugs, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:29:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22281883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rangergirl3/pseuds/Rangergirl3
Summary: Pidge gives Keith a big hug.
Relationships: Keith & Pidge | Katie Holt
Series: GenTron Week 2019 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1444573
Comments: 13
Kudos: 115





	Cuddling

"Pidge? Is that you?"

The Green Paladin nearly jumped out of her skin at the interruption.

As a result, Pidge stood up too fast, smacked her head on the middle shelf of the pantry, and grumbled a few choice phrases under her breath, rubbing the top of her head as she peered over the door of the cabinet to where Keith stood at the doorway to the room.

" _Yeeep_ ," she managed, just barely managing to not make it sound like a snarl. Pain made her snippy, even something as dumb and small like a bump on the head.

She closed the cabinet door, careful not to slam it shut. He didn't like loud noises, and anyway, it wasn't Keith's fault she'd smacked her forehead into the blunt edge of a shelf at two in the morning.

_Ow, ow, ow._

Pidge rubbed her forehead in an irritated sort of way.

Damn it, she couldn't even swear properly at a decent volume. It was too damn _early_.

Lance's bedroom was only a short distance away, and the last thing she needed right now was to wake up yet another person during what she was fairly certain was called the 'graveyard shift' back on Earth.

Keith shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

"Sorry," he mumbled. 

Pidge opened up another cupboard door, flapping a hand at him in a 'don't start apologizing for something that wasn't your fault' kind of manner.

"You hungry?" she asked, her voice only somewhat muffled as she peered into the recesses of the Altean larder. "I could _kill_ for some carbs right now. Like, donuts, muffins - oh god, I miss cake, so much."

"I'm more of a peanut butter person," he answered.

Pidge nearly jumped out of her skin a second time when Keith's voice sounded right by her elbow. She did, however, go ' ** _YEEP_**!' as her head hit the top of the shelf again. 

_Sweet gods above, this was the second time in half a minute - was he a ninja or something?!_

* * *

Keith swore under his breath.

"Sorry," he managed.

Pidge retreated from the cupboard, taking care to avoid any more shelves, and scrabbled upright before answering.

" 's fine," she managed. "I just - geez, you move so _quietly_. How do you do it?"

Keith looked down at the floor, as if he hoped the answer would be written on the tiles beneath their feet.

"I just do, I guess."

He looked up just in time to see Pidge raise an eyebrow disbelievingly. 

"I - I practiced, okay?" he said. 

She looked at him with a quizzical expression.

"Do you mind if I ask, um, why?" she inquired.

He shrugged, resisting the urge to look down at the floor again. Making eye contact when talking about something like this was difficult for him, even on good days.

"I didn't want people to know I was - around," he said. "They just - it was - "

Damn it. Words were hard too, today.

"It was better - if I just - if I just stayed out of the way." he said. "If I stayed quiet, and didn't get noticed, it was better. Or, it could be, some of the time. It didn't always work, but - you know. It was something."

* * *

Then, to his surprise, Pidge reached out her arms, and waited.

"Wha-?" he began to ask, but she blinked rapidly and said, affectionately, "Keith, I'm, uh, offering you a hug here."

He stared at her for a few seconds, confused, but she continued. "You - you don't _have_ to do it, you know, it's - it's just one option. I could, um, like, fist bump you too, if you want, or pat your shoulder, but - um - I just - I just really want to show you that I care, and - and this is just one way to do it. You know?"

He blinked, and then he nodded.

* * *

Pidge hugged him for a long time.

**Author's Note:**

> Hurray for platonic friendships <3 <3 <3 :-)
> 
> Comments are loved!! I'm on Tumblr - come say hi :-)


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